simonsfotos

I have been following this htread ever since it started and am quite frankly amazed that the loos at W&P are like this. In this day and age we are supposed to be hygenic for goodness sake and there is no excuse whatsoever for the organisers of ANY event, no matter how large or small, to treat the people who pay (often large sums of money) to attend their event in this way. Before anyone gets on their high horse with me, no I haven't attended W&P. However, I do attends events all over the country, aviation and military vehicle, and never come across this sort of treatment at any of those in a great many years. Some of those events have upwards of 20,000 people per day attending, some in fact many thousands more than that. So, for something billing itself as the largest event of its kind to still be in the dark ages when it comes to basic hygene is beyond me and I fail to understand how some people can ignore it or even condone it.

A sad day, in fact a sad week with the passing of both Henry Allingham and now Harry Patch. They are all together now. RIP

I may be wrong but I seem to remember hearing that the original plan was that 558 would display for 5 years and then be retired to Duxford - why Duxford I don;t know as they already have a good example of the Vulcan in Airspace!

Thing to remember though is that the Vulcan Restoration Trust is a totally different entity to Vulcan To The Sky. VRT looks after XL426 at Southend and NOT XH558, the flyer. Therefore to use those accounts as a basis of what the people looking after the one seen flying at airshows would be a bit of a no no. My own personal thing on the funding of '558' is that I did support it, via membership and donations, for several years. I have now come to the opinion (and as I say it is only my personal opinion) that with so much money having been pumped into it, and the begging bowl being constantly thrust out with statements of "without your money you won't see it fly" and "if we don't get £xxmillion by such and such date then you won't see it fly", I have actually stopped. The reson for this is that, great though it is to see the Vulcan in the air - when it is servicable that is for one reason or another! - for me an airshow is the sum of a total display and not just one aircraft. Everyone who operates historic warbirds needs money for that to happen and for millions upon millions to be constantly pumped into one aircraft can only harm the rest of the warbird world, if only through 'charity burn out' from the public. To return to your question and according to the VTST website: http://www.vulcantothesky.org/default.asp there are twleve full time members of staff. The one thing it doesn't appear possible to access from the website is the accounts to find out ho9w much goes on wages etc!

Never was the expression 'A True Hero' more appropriate when thinking about Henry Allingham. A great loss of a truly great man. RIP Henry.

I will try and find some details for you.

I must admit I find it easiest to have a free photobucket acocunt, upload the pics to there and then use the image code they give. You simply copy the code straight into your message and hey presto, the image appears when you preview your post.

Finally, queries. I've been able to name all the vehicles apart from the following. Be grateful for answers as to what they are. Incidentally, there is a complete gallery of every vehicle that was in the Living History Field on my site and a total of nearly 200 photos from the day. This is the link: http://www.simonsfotos.co.uk/c1723299.html Hope you've all liked the photos. I'm now off to Duxford for three days of the best flying there is and not a jet to be heard!

Next, the mock battle and Living History Displays. Again I've tried to go for my twist on 'a bit different'

Finally here they are. I've tried to give a different feel and view to the other photos that have been posted. First off a few from the tank etc displays: Full report here: http://www.simonsfotos.co.uk/c1723299.html

Referring back to the question on what the A7V replica is based on, I heard the commentator say that underneath the skin is a County tractor. Rather nice to hear that as my father worked all his life for County Commercial Cars here in Fleet and I was often in the factory as a child and saw many of them being built. It would be interesting for me to find out exactly which one they used for the replica. Yes, high-viz hill would give you the sun on your back and also gives that elevated position. Hope you managed to get the knot out! I've nearly finished editing my shots. There will be too many to put up on here but I will put a selection along with a link to my site. They'll be different angles to yours but have needed a lot of Photoshop work to combat the 'into the sun' problem. Certainly got some different angles though. I'll try and get them up before the weekend but I'm desperately trying to sort stuff out before having three days at Duxford for Flying Legends!

Looks like you were on 'high-viz bank'! Would have liked to have been up there myself. I ended up having to shoot into the sun for most of the day from the public bank! Played havoc with the photo exposure I can tell you!

I'm a bit of a regular at Popham photographing the fly-ins etc (you may remember my pics on here of the MVs that attended in May). I'll add it to the diary to make sure it is covered. Anything to assist a Help For Heroes event.

My feelings on this as a non-MV owner but as a 'punter'/photographer who this year has enjoyed his first visits to a few MV events are as follows. With the number of events around the country, surely reason states that there is a place or event for all types. If an organiser wishes to lay down rules for their own particular event then that is up to the organiser. If some don't like that then don't go. For my part, I went Tankfest to see the tanks - pretty self explanatory really being a tank event. The Living History part for me was a bonus and I really appreciated the trouble that the participants had gone to in their various scenarios. At other events yes there is a more relaxed attitude to 'dressing the part'. Fair enough. For a lot it seems simply owning and driving their vehicles, whatever they are, is their reason for being there and seeing so many lovingly cared for - and different - vehicles has made my first year on the scene a delight. It just seems a shame that because an organiser sets rules for their own event, that they get slagged off for it. From the listings in CMV and elsewhere, there are hundreds of events around the country for all types of MV and it seems that TF is being singled out when it isn't even strictly speaking an MV rally/event. I loved TF as there were many tanks in operation that I had never seen and for the trouble that they had gone to with the whole event. On the other hand, I also loved Overlord 2009 for different reasons, but then it was a totally different type of event - wonderful mix of vehicles and very friendly and laid back atmosphere. Well that's my two penn'orth to the debate as a 'spectator'!

If it was the one covered in foliage then yes that's the one! Well done guys!

As mentioned in another thread, I have loads of shots from the Saturday which I am currently editing. Once done I'll give a full review. It should include a couple of shots at least of everything that moved!

I went to Tankfest for the first time on Saturday and have to say that it was a fantastic event. It was so good to see the crews in the machines that displayed all in the correct uniforms. Plus, the Living History area was really well done with slit trenches on the bank and various layouts on the field. Special mention must go to the guys with the halftrack who had created a marvellous period set piece which if photographed from the right angle put you right 'there' so to speak. In spite of the heat, the attention to detail showed as when an outer uniform was removed there were no modern t-shirts on view, just standard issue grubby white with no logos in evidence. Well done to the organisers for setting this rule for this special event. With several hundred images to go through, I've not been through them all yet but when I have, I'll post some here and give a link to the full report.

I had never had the opportunity of being present at a 'Thank You' parade so when I heard that Odiham was to have one this morning, I had to go. It is after all only 10 minutes away from me and I lived there for many years. It was as if the whole town had turned out to line the old High Street as the guys and gals from the base paraded through whilst being overflown by a Chinook and Lynx. (Perhaps someone on here can let me know what the 'ambulance' vehicle is!). These are just half a dozen shots from a very special event. (It's surprisingly difficult to take good photos with a tear in the eye and a lump in the throat!). The whole event is covered here: http://www.simonsfotos.co.uk/c1711736.html

The main problem with the Victor is the main spars. This was the main reason that they were taken out of service by the RAF. Also, there is now no manufacturer back-up (design authority I believe they call it). BAe Systems looked 'kindly' on the Vulcan and Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge were contracted as the main engineers due to their official authority status. Remember that the Vulcan (into which millions have been pumped) was the final display aircraft of the Vulcan fleet when it was flown into Bruntingthorpe from Waddington and therefore was a fully working aircraft at that time. No Victor was used as a display aircraft towards the end of its life. There are two Victors in fully taxiable condition - the one at Bruntingthorpe and 'Lusty Lindy' at Elvington. Never say never as the saying goes, but I can't see it ever happening that one would come back to fully airworthy status. The problem would be that if a project were started to make one fully airworthy, I very much doubt that The Heritage Lottery would pump in the amount they did for the Vulcan and the Victor would have to be completely stripped. If the project then failed, that would be one less taxiable aircraft. I always had a soft spot for the Victor, even more so than the Vulcan actually. I think it was something to do with it's stance and the way it looked.

Having only really got into MVs this year (through my relaxation method of building kits of British MVs of all types of the NW Europe 1944 era) I spotted in CMV that these two shows were on. Having been to other events at Beaulieu and on the whole been impressed I did consider T&T. However with it having been a busy weekend for other reasons, I plumped for Overlord on the Monday with it being less than an hour's easy drive from Fleet. I was glad I did! Excellent variety of vehicles (despite the fact that a good few had left by that day); nice arena with a pit to make it a bit more interesting; very warm welcome; incredibly reasonably priced entry(not knowing in advance but I also guessed that entry to T&T would be a lot more pricey!); good car park access which made it nice and easy to go to an fro rather than having to lug all my camera gear all the time. Plus since putting the pics up on my website and getting in personal contact with the organisers, I got some really nice comments for what was my first all MV event. That is a sure way to encourage return visits to an event. I now know that Overlord is always on the Bank Holiday weekend nearest to 6th June and I will definitely be back there in 2010 (on the Saturday or Sunday this time!)

Thanks for the info so far guys. I'm updating the website as each nugget of info arrives!

Would love to come to that Paul. Problem is I have to be back early afternoon for a 25th Wedding Anniversary do. I might try and get down for the morning though. As for photos, no problem at all. Let me know which ones you want from the website gallery and email me at info@simonsfotos.co.uk with your needs and what size you want and I'll let you know prices etc.

The Overlord military vehicle gathering took place over the weekend of 22nd-25th May at the Horndean Showground near Portsmouth. Organised by the Solent Overlord Executive, this year's event drew a massive number of vehicles of all types and ages for the commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend on the final day and quite a large proportion of the vehicles had already left to catch ferries to France for the speciaql events to be held there, however even so there was much of interest for the good sized crowd that turned up. As well as being able to wander at will amongst the parked vehicles, there was an arena where parades of vehicles were held (Post War before lunch and WW2 following the break), as well as music from the Training Ship Alacrity Band and the Bark Rite Dog Display Team. There was also a WW2 battle re-enactment with plenty of pyrotechnics, smoke and mortars and the 40mm Bofors Gun was also in action. This was very well staged and delighted young and old watching from behind the barriers. Thisa was the first military vehicle gathering of this nature that I have attended and I will definitely make a date in the diary to return again. It was a very friendly event and my special thanks go to the gentleman giving the commentary on the WW2 Parade for allowing me to photograph the vehicle from close quarters inside the arena. You will note that I have not given detailed vehicle captions to the photographs. This is simply due to a lack of knowledge on my part! If anyone veiwing the photographs can provide vehicle details (make/model etc) then I will update this review as they come in. The following are just a few shots from the day. A full gallery of over 370 images, which includes at least one shot of every military vehicle to be found on the field on Monday, can be found here: http://www.simonsfotos.co.uk/c1704313.html

Yes got a big sequence on the battle. I was shooting from between the ice cream van and the commentary area so was able to get good side on shots of you guys. Have caught the smoke from the tube nicely. Look out for them in the review when I get all the pics sorted. (The reason for the delay in doing this is not only the large number of images from the day but also the fact that I shoot RAW so have to convert them all before posting them!)

I attended Overlord 2009 today (unfortunately the only day that I could make it) and was very pleased by the welcome - I'm not a military vehicle owner, purely an interest and photographer! Many thanks to the guy doing the commentary on the final parade for letting me have access inside the arena so that I could get some nice angles. I was very impressed with the line-up of vehicles, though I understand that there were many more which had left by today which was a shame (though understandable with them catching ferries etc). Once I've converted all the photos, I'll do a review on here with a link to the full set on my site - it'll be a few days as there are 500 shots to go through - if you had a vehicle there today (Monday) there will be at least one shot of it appearing! I'd make one suggestion to the organisers ref the website. When Joe Public want to attend events like this and check out the website for details, one thing they would like to know is how much it will cost them. That is something I couldn't find anywhere on the event web pages! Very reasonable entry cost though! Being used to airshows, I am used to entry prices of £15 plus so to find that this was a day out for £6 was a nice surprise!